Street printing apparatus



J7me 17, 1941.

E. HAECKER STREET PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 19, 1959 INVENTOR[/"nesf fiaacker BY -ZATTORE Patented June 17, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE STREET PRINTING APPARATUS Ernest Haecker, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 19, 1939, Serial No. 279,776

' -1 Claim.

My invention relates to advertising and relates particularly toadvertising on streets or roads.

Heretofore, advertising of articles has been made by distributinghandbills, newspapers, radio, as well as skywriting from aeroplanes.However, no successful street writing with vaporizable liquid has beenavailable. Suggestions have been advanced to write or imprintadvertisements on streets or roads, but they were not practical becauseof the cumbersome and costly equipment required.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a streetadvertising device which clearly prints on streets or roads.

Another object of my invention is to provide a street advertisingmechanism, which utilizes a liquid which remains on the street for alimited period of time, and which also absorbs the heat from the streetor road and thereby results in a cooling efi'ect.

Another object of my invention is to provide a street advertising devicehaving a printing drum cleaning unit as well as a wetting device for theprinting unit.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device which may printstreet advertisements in different colors.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of thecharacter described, that is easily and economically produced, which issturdy in construction and which is highly efficient in operation.

With the above and related objects in View, my invention consists in thefollowing details of construction and combination of parts, as will bemore fully understood from the following description, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a roller having thestreet imprinting mechanism thereon and being attached to the rear of atank car.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the liquid applicator.

Fig, 4 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the plates attached tothe roller, which plates are utilized to hold the rubber mat containingthe advertising matter thereon in position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, I show a vehicle supporting areservoir tank, generally designated as 0, having attached to it aroller or printer, generally designated as D, and the roller D having acylindrical surface [0 and a cover I2 for each end. The cylinder surfaceis split, as at l4, in order to provide .a tension on a mat, generallydesignated as E, made of rubber or other suitable material, which mathas the advertising cut therein in reverse form as compared to theadvertisement printed on the ground or street.

The ends I6, I8 of the cylinder 10 are undercut in order to receiveholding bars 20, 22, respectively. The bars are held to the ends of thecylinder by means of threaded bolts 23, and one end of the mat is heldbetween the cylinder end l6 and the holding bar 20 while the other endof the mat is held between the second cylinder end and the holding baror plate 22. Thus, by pulling the mat E tightly around the cylinder D ofresilient material and fastening its ends by the bars 20, 22, theimprint will be perfect.

A rod or axle 24 passes through the longitudinal center of the cylinderD and the end members l2, and to each end of the axle 24 is attached arectangular pulling shaft 26. The other ends of the shafts 26, 26 arejoined by a cross rod 28, and to the center of the cross rod is a tierod 30 which has its end 32 swivelly joined to the back of the vehicleC.

The mechanism for applying liquid to the roller D comprises a rubbersponge-like liquid absorber and applicator, generally designated as F,which is mounted upon a perforated metal tube, generally designated asG. The tube or pipe G is supported from arms 34, 36 which are pivotallyfrom the arms 26, 28, respectively. The fluid applicator F is mountedupon suitable bearings so that the motion of the printing roller Drevolves the applicator F as the two units are pressed together byvirtue of the tension spring 56.

A flexible liquid carrying hose 38 is connected at one end to the tankA, and the other end of the hose is suitably joined to the perforatedtube G so that liquid may pass from the tank A through the hose 38 intothe perforated tube G, and then into the applicator F. The smallperforations 40 in the tube G limit the quantity of liquid which maypass therethrough in order to avoid having the liquid drip upon thestreet. The liquid flow from the tank also may be controlled by virtueof a valve 42 located in the tube communication line.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, suchdescription is intended as illustrative rather than limiting since theinvention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention isto be determined as claimed.

I claim as my invention:

A machine for printing advertisements on streets or roads comprising asingle continuous hollow cylindrical member of substantially a cqnstantdiameter and made of resilient material, said cylinder split in alongitudinal direction, the

ends of said roller along said split being aligned 10

